Georgia State Volleyball Team 2009 Preseason Tournament Review

The Georgia State Volleyball Team opened their 2009 preseason by participating in the North Carolina Central Invitational. For the past two years Georgia State won their volleyball season openers and this year was no exception with the Panthers winning in three sets against the Citadel and the North Carolina Central Eagles.
Coach Mike Webster credits the team's ability to overcome their nerves, to settle down and to be aggressive from the service line as being the primary factors in the victories.

“We were very anxious heading into the first match,” commented head coach Mike Webster. “The team did a good job of settling down and playing very aggressive from the service line in both matches. One of our goals going into the weekend was to play our game and make it difficult on our opponents and I think we did a very good job of that today. I am also pleased at how well the newcomers and returners haveintegrated together to play as one solid unit.”

Junior Ashley Jones was named to the North Carolina Central All Tournament Team, making her the first Georgia State player to be named to an All-Tournament Team since the beginning of the 2008 season (when then sophomore libero Audrey Cantrell was picked for the Georgia Bulldog Invitational team.)

The Panthers then hosted the Great 8 Volleyball Challenge presented by Residence Inn-Kennesaw during the first weekend of September.
The Georgia State team had to come from being two sets behind to win their own tournament against Presbyterian College in a five set thriller. Under head coach Mike Webster this 2009 preseason marked the best start for a Georgia State Panthers team in six years.
The first triple-double of the season was scored by junior Ashley Jones who shared the honor of being named Most Valuable Player with Kennesaw State player Asjia Stokes. The match ending stats for Jones was 24 kills, 22 assists and 11 digs which marked a career high.
Audrey Cantrell and freshman Vineece Verdun were the other two Georgia State players named to the Great 8 Volleyball Challenge All Tournament Team.

The following weekend saw Georgia State participating in the University of Illinois-Chicago Invitational. 
Playing four matches in three days and feeling confident with two tournament wins under their belt Georgia State's record fell to 6-2 in the season with their three-set opening match loss against tournament host University of Illinois Chicago. Hitting an early season low of .099, the Panthers were paced by their Colonial Athletic Association co-offensive player of the week Ashley Jones who scored a triple-double for the second weekend in a row.  


In their next match the Georgia State faced nationally ranked #18 Michigan State, where the mighty Spartans used their height advantage to capture the Panthers in three sets. Former Michigan State player Vineece Verdun, who played her freshman and sophomore seasons for the Spartans led the team with nine kills in the first match against her ex-teammates.    


The Panthers won in three sets in their next match against Duquesne and coach Mike Webster attributed the victory to his volleyball team's ability to step up and work together to find a way to win. Coach Webster had this to say about his team after the match.
“We stepped up in terms of competition this weekend,” commented head coach Mike Webster. “We learned a lot about ourselves against the teams we played and I am proud of the way we stuck together as a team and found a way to win the final match of the tournament.”
With the conclusion of this match, in terms of stats,  libero Audrey Cantrell moved her way up the Georgia State Volleyball Player All Time Digs list, scooping up an additional 10 for a career total of 785 digs.

The Panthers pounced on Chicago State in three sets in the last game of the tournament in which the team hit .266 for the match.

The last 2009 preseason tournament for the Panthers was the Elon Invitational where Georgia State would compete against the host team Phoenix, in addition to Norfolk State and Navy.

Against Navy, Georgia State improved their record to 9-3, hitting .556 and committing one error in four sets. Their second match pitted the Panthers against previously unbeaten Phoenix.

The host team, Elon, entered the tournament unbeaten with a record of 10-0, but that all changed when they lost to Georgia State in a thrilling five-set match. Now 10- 3 on the season, the Panther underclassmen stepped up to the plate led by freshman Jamiee Freeman who scored her first career double-double with 16 digs and 10 kills. Sophomore Muki Kangwa scored eight kills and nine digs, while junior Audrey Cantrell added 24 digs to the team total. Vineece Verdun, a redshirt transfer from Michigan State and named as an all- tournament team player in the first two tournaments of the preseason, added ten kills and seven total blocks to the team's total 12 blocks.

In the last match of the tournament against the 2 -11 Norfolk State team, it took Georgia State three sets to confirm their 3 - 0 tournament record and become winners of the Elon Invitational tournament. The Panthers entered the 2009 regular season at 11-3 having won five matches ina row which marked the best start for the team since the 2003.